Royals Return Rule 5 Pick Robert Fish To Angels
The Royals have returned Rule 5 Draft pick Robert Fish to the Angels according to Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star (on Twitter). The Yankees originally selected the left-hander in the Rule 5, but the Royals claimed him off waivers earlier this month.
Fish, 23, allowed nine runs in 7 2/3 innings between both Kansas City and New York this spring. He's struck out 9.1 batters per nine innings in his minor league career (365 2/3 innings), but he's also walked 4.2 per nine. Fish shifted to relief full-time last season, though he has only one career appearance above Double-A.
New York Notes: Silva, Sanchez, Beato, Colon
Here's the latest out of Queens and the Bronx on the final Sunday before regular season baseball gets underway….
- The Yankees have no plans to pursue the recently released Carlos Silva tweets Jack Curry of the YES Network. Pitching coach Larry Rothschild was Silva's pitching coach with the Cubs last season.
- Yankees manager Joe Girardi told Chad Jennings of The Journal News that Romulo Sanchez was scratched from today's road trip "for reasons I can’t give to you at this point." The right-hander is out of options and a long shot to make the team, and Girardi gave a look that indicated a trade was in the works acording to Jennings.
- Pedro Beato will make the Mets' Opening Day roster, tweets SI.com's Jon Heyman. The Mets selected Beato from the Orioles in the Rule 5 draft.
- In another tweet, Heyman says the Mets are searching for a second left-handed reliever, in part to match up with some of the lefty sluggers in the NL East.
- In a conversation with Steve Selby of the New York Post, David Wright says he's not concerned about the possibility of a Mets fire sale.
- Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News argues that the Yankees took the "safe, easy" route in giving Freddy Garcia a rotation spot over Bartolo Colon.
- The Yankees hope Colon can occupy the swing-man role previously held by Alfredo Aceves, writes Feinsand.
Week In Review: 3/20/11 – 3/26/11
Let's take a look back at the last seven days in what will be our final review befor Opening Day 2011:
- Kevin Millwood finally found a home, as the veteran innings eater signed a late minor league deal with the Yankees. Millwood's base salary will be the pro-rated portion of $1.5MM once he is added to the roster. His contract also includes incentives.
- New York also traded Sergio Mitre to the Brewers in exchange for outfielder Chris Dickerson.
- Elsewhere in New York, the Mets finally released Oliver Perez. The lefty hooked on with the Nationals on a minor league deal later in the week. The other oft-criticized Met who was recently released, Luis Castillo, signed a minor league deal with the Phillies as insurance for Chase Utley's injury.
- The Twins may be willing to trade Kevin Slowey for late inning bullpen help after tabbing Scott Baker as their fifth starter.
- The Twins also placed Pat Neshek on waivers this week, and saw the sidearm reliever immediately claimed by the Padres. In other Padre-related news, the club officially began discussing an extesnsion with Heath Bell.
- The Red Sox purchased the Major League contract of Dennys Reyes.
- Drayton McClane is close to selling the Astros to Jim Crane, possibly for more than the $523MM the Rangers sold for last summer.
- The Athletics could extend Daric Barton, and are also interested in discussing a long-term deal with Trevor Cahill.
- The Rangers announced this week that Neftali Feliz will remain in the bullpen, likely ending, or at least temporarily halting the team's trade efforts for a reliever.
- The Angels, Mets, Orioles, Rangers, and Rockies were just five of the eight teams for whom Doug Davis auditioned this past week.
- The Mariners, Brewers, and Orioles all returned their Rule 5 Draft picks to their original clubs.
- The Braves are looking to trade Rodrigo Lopez, and are also still hoping to move Kenshin Kawakami.
- Brandon Wood's time as an Angel may be running out. The former top prospect would almost certainly latch on with another club.
- Mike Hampton officially retired this week. He was joined by Mike Sweeney and Braden Looper as well.
- With roster cuts coming fast and furious, several players were released this week. The Dodgers cut Ron Mahay, the Mariners released Gabe Gross, the Pirates cut ties with Garrett Atkins, and the Padres released Kevin Frandsen. Frandsen signed with the Diamondbacks later that same day. To monitor all of the week's minor moves, check our transactions section or use MLBTR's Transcation Tracker.
White Sox Place Jeff Marquez On Waivers
The White Sox have placed out of options right-hander Jeff Marquez on waivers, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick.
Marquez, 26, came to the White Sox along with Wilson Betemit and Jhonny Nunez in exchange for Nick Swisher and Kanekoa Texeira. two years ago. A supplemental round pick by the Yankees in the 2004 draft, Marquez has seen just one Major League inning.
His minor league numbers have been respectable, though not particularly impressive; he's managed a 4.15 ERA with 6.1 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 over 751 minor league innings.
Braves Release Proctor, Place Mather On Waivers
The Braves have released right-hander Scott Proctor and placed outfielder Joe Mather on waivers, tweets David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Proctor, 33, signed a one-year deal with the Braves back in November with a $750K base salary. O'Brien tweets that the Braves will owe him a little over 25% of that figure. The right-hander appeared in four games for Atlanta in 2010 and allowed four earned runs in 5 2/3 innings of work. This Spring, the veteran allowed 14 runs (six earned) through 10 2/3 innings of work. He struck out 12 but also allowed 12 hits and walked nine batters.
Mather, 27, was selected off waivers from the Cardinals earlier this offseason (the day after signing Proctor). He owns a .233/.287/.415 line through 211 Major League plate appearances, all coming with St. Louis. Mather has seen time at both infield corners and all three outfield positions with the Cardinals in parts of two seasons.
Astros Acquire Joe Inglett
The Astros have acquired Joe Inglett from the Rays in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations, tweets Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.
Inglett, 32, has seen time at shortstop, second base, third base, and all three outfield spots over the course of his career. The utility man owns a respectable career line of .286/.345/.397 over 871 career plate appearances. He carries a significant platoon split, having hit just .200/.310/.253 against southpaws, though that data comes from a very small sample size of just 91 plate appearances.
Alyson Footer adds, via Twitter, that Inglett comes to the Astros as a non-roster player and will be in the mix for a job as a left-handed bench bat.
Astros Return Lance Pendleton To Yankees
The Astros have returned Rule 5 pick Lance Pendleton to the Yankees, tweets Astros' director of social media Alyson Footer. Pendleton cleared waivers and will be assigned to New York's minor league camp (Twitter link).
Pendleton, 27, was one of two Rule 5 selections by the Astros, along with Aneury Rodriguez. Pendleton had been competing for a spot in Houston's bullpen, but struggled with his control this spring, walking eight batters in just 7 2/3 innings.
Alberto Gonzalez Drawing Interest
At least four teams have "serious interest" in the out of options Alberto Gonzalez, according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson (via Twitter). Ladson names the Athletics, Astros, Padres, and Braves as teams who are eyeing the Nationals' infielder.
Last Sunday, we heard the Padres were "looking hard" at Gonzalez, who has the ability to play an array of defensive positions. Though the 27-year-old posted just a .578 OPS in part-time duty for the Nationals a year ago, he has played well this spring, hitting .365/.400/.404. Still, with Jerry Hairston Jr. and Alex Cora on board, there may not be room for Gonzalez on the Nats' Opening Day roster.
Cubs Release Carlos Silva
A day after telling Carlos Silva they'd attempt to trade him, the Cubs have released the right-hander, tweets Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune.
A poor spring meant the 31-year-old failed to earn a spot in Chicago's rotation or bullpen. Although the Cubs looked for a trade partner, Silva's $11.5MM salary and his refusal to report to the minors reduced the team's leverage significantly.
Silva had some success for the Cubs last season, recording a 4.22 ERA in 21 starts. However, his spring performance, including a 10.90 ERA in 17 1/3 innings, more closely resembled his 2008 and 2009 campaigns, when he posted a 6.81 ERA in 183 2/3 IP for the Mariners. Even so, another team will likely take a chance on the righty, with the Cubs on the hook for his exorbitant price tag.
Ryan Zimmerman Talks Next Contract
Since being drafted fourth overall in 2005, Ryan Zimmerman has evolved into a cornerstone of the Nationals and one of the game's best all-around players. Zimmerman signed an extension in 2009 that will delay his free agency until after the 2013 season, and he'd like to stay in Washington even longer. Speaking to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post, the 26-year-old said he doesn't want to be a player who leaves via free agency after years of losing.
"That’s the dire, last-minute decision if I didn’t think we were going to win," Zimmerman said. "I have a lot of confidence that we’re really close to becoming good…. I don’t think we’re as far away as everyone thinks…. That’s kind of another one of the reasons I want to be here for so long."
While there's no rush for either side to work out a new contract yet, Zimmerman suggested he'd test free agency if an extension wasn't in place by the end of the 2012 season:
"If you get to two years left [before] free agency, you can talk. But if nothing works out, if you have one year before free agency, you might as well play your year out and see what happens…. I think the whole point of the baseball system is, you put your time in, you stay with a team, and you get rewarded with being able to be a free agent."
Zimmerman says he'd prefer not to negotiate during the regular season, though a source indicated to Kilgore that the Nationals would open extension discussions sometime in the coming months. For his part, Zimmerman says he "would take care of it whenever they want to take care of it." Of course, negotiations likely won't be easy. Several baseball people who spoke to Kilgore believe Zimmerman could command an extension worth approximately $200MM.